Le Crete Senesi drive

Stretching from Siena to Montepulciano is an otherworldly moonscape known as Le Crete Senesi, the strange clay hillocks and crater-like gullies marking the Sienese badlands. Barren or virtually treeless, this is beguiling territory, with striking farmhouses marooned on the crests of hills. This is one of Tuscany’s great drives, an antidote to gentle Tuscany, softened by olives and vines. The best route through the Crete is the SS438 to Asciano, and the SP451 to Monte Oliveto Maggiore ­– empty roads through a barren landscape, dotted with lone cypresses. Known as the Accona desert in medieval times, this area retains its spiritual remoteness.